Just Like Her Mother
by ValaMalDoran-Jackson
Summary: Peanut is too much like her mother most days.


Vala's injured.

She dove when she should have ducked, or zigged when she should have zagged…

Three broken ribs, forty-two stitches, and an impressive burn scar that covers most of one hip.

Not her biggest injury by far, but one that keeps her overnight in the infirmary.

For observation, she's told.

As if no one in the medical field has ever seen broken ribs, stitches, or burns.

On top of that, she's in isolation, since she was allergic to something or other on that planet. No chances of her life mate or daughter showing up to liven her stay or sneak her treats.

With a sigh, Vala patted a lump out of her blankets and tried to keep boredom from overtaking her, then moaned and smacked a fist into the mattress in frustration.

Four long, horrendous hours into her torture, she saw a familiar face pop up in the window of the observation unit above her and her smile returned instantly.

Peanut waved, a grin coming to her mouth as well in answer. Holding a finger to her lips, she touched her ear.

Frowning slightly, Vala shrugged a response, unsure what the nine year old was trying to say. Rolling her eyes skyward, Peanut's head disappeared for several seconds before she popped up in the window again, this time holding a notebook page up with writing scrawled across it.

"Earpiece…" Vala murmured, then brightened as she realized what was happening. When she slipped her radio in, Peanut let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank gods. I was going mental out here! Do you know, no one here knows how to give a girl a proper twist up?" She asked, referring to a hairstyle popular on her mother's homeworld.

"Did Daddy try?" Vala asked.

"Yeah, but he gave me twenty dollars to let him off 'cause it kept falling apart on him. I cried until he upped it to fifty."

"That's my girl. Always stick to your guns and never settle for anything less than your due. Otherwise people will walk all over you." Vala smiled.

"Yeah. CJ might be getting in trouble, but he said he'll still be cool with me if you make him those cookies he likes when you get out. Hope you don't mind, it was all he'd negotiate for. So, I may have already said yes." Peanut chewed her lip slightly as she said this.

"Uh-Oh. Tell me, I've been dying for some juicy gossip since my exile to the dungeons here."

"Iso's hardly a dungeon, Mom. Umm, anyway, I kinda' disobeyed my teacher and CJ is getting in trouble for it. He said it would be cool, 'cause I needed to talk to you. I lost another tooth, and um…I got another comic book with Daddy. I let CJ keep it; he's reading it first. I kinda'…may have escaped the playroom when no one was looking. But, it's not my fault, no one would tell me how you were doing. I thought you might be hurt bad. So, I kinda' faked that maybe I wasn't feeling good and went to the infirmary, and Aunt Carolyn told me you were ok, but in iso, so I snuck out and you would not believe how many teams get put in iso after being offworld! Really. You'd think with all the training they've been given, they'd know by now every time their CO's yell 'hit the dirt' they wouldn't take a few minutes to contemplate why. Uncle Jack, Uncle Teal'c, and Uncle Cam made sure I knew that. And I'm nine! I think I should go offworld soon. I'm mature now." Vala chuckled at her daughter's loquaciousness, reminded quite strongly of Daniel at that point.

"You're right. At least about the Marines listening to their CO's. You, my darling, will not be going offworld for many years to come. It's too dangerous out there for a little girl to be traipsing around saving the galaxy every other day. You stay here until after college, then we'll revisit the subject." She smiled to soften her words, but knew it would do nothing to sway her daughter's mind.

"General Landry said the same thing when I asked him. He finally broke down and said that if I could get you and Daddy to say yes, and if I could find a uniform small enough, I could go offworld tomorrow. But only then. So, all I have to do is convince you and Dad to say yes." It was amazing how Peanut still thought she could change her mother's mind.

"So, you and Daddy have plans for tonight? Where are you going to dinner?" Vala asked then.

"He mentioned Chinese, and I did a happy dance. Probably Chinese." The little girl fell silent then, before glancing over her shoulder.

"Busted." She sighed. O'Neill waved to Vala as he joined Peanut at the window.

"You should be in school, Missy." He tweaked Peanut's nose, causing her to smile.

"I just wanted to see if Mom was okay. The doctors didn't let me know anything about her condition when they brought her in, and Aunt Sam said burns and stitches, then CJ heard you say broken ribs and concussion, so, I ghosted on the teachers. They probably don't even know I'm gone." She replied.

"Hey, I'll make sure she gets back to school. Let me know if there's anything you need, yeah?" He radioed down to Vala. She nodded to show she heard, shifting position on the bed slightly.

"So, Teal'c tells me you're getting good at your self-defense tactics. I'm proud of you. Keep it up, you'll need those offworld once you get a degree. You haven't forgotten the agreement? Once you graduate college with a full degree, you can start going offworld on uninhabited planets with me for archeological digs." Daniel told Peanut once he swallowed a bite of his sweet and sour chicken.

"I know. My teacher wants to talk to you about my grades." Peanut nodded once, reaching for her water glass.

"Really? How bad is it?" Daniel smirked.

"All A's, every subject. Don't know why she wants to talk to you about grades." Peanut shrugged, speaking once she had taken a long drink. "Maybe she just thinks you're hot, and 'cause you and Mommy aren't married, she thinks she's got a shot. Like Lieutenant Hayes. Stupid Lieutenant Hayes." She grumbled the last part, remembering the young, blond haired lieutenant that had tried for months to win Jackson's affections just the year before.

"Misguided, not stupid. We talked to you about this, remember? We don't call people stupid." Daniel chuckled. "By the way, Jack talked to me earlier today. Apparently someone ghosted on her teachers, caused a bit of a panic." He went on. An innocent look dropped over her small face when she turned to look at him. "Really? Who?" She asked.

"Drop the act. Your teacher was terrified. You're going to apologize to her in the morning, and you're grounded for a week. Where'd you head off to?" Daniel asked.

"They wouldn't tell me anything about Mommy. I didn't know if she was okay or not, She wouldn't let me call Aunt Carolyn or anything. So, CJ distracted her, and I picked the locks and got out. No one saw me, and I locked it back up right away so no one else could get out. I was responsible, I went to Aunt Carolyn, she said Mommy was in iso, and I went straight there, didn't go anywhere else. Not like last time." Peanut replied.

"Out of curiosity, how long did it take you to pick the locks?" Daniel asked, looking at her over his fork.

"Less than five seconds. For both." She grinned.

"You take after your mom too much." Was all he could think to say.


End file.
